In what could be the worst timing ever, Kris Kringle (Santa, if you prefer) has fallen into a mid-life crisis in CastleVille. Christmas is in jeopardy until we help knock him out of his rut and help him remember his duties this holiday season. This comes via a new quest series called "The Kringle Crisis," and we're here with a guide to complete them, thanks to Zynga.

A Holiday Hold-Up
• Craft and Place a Yulefest Party Starter
• Tax 5 Houses
• Have 3 Yulefest Cookies

This quest starts out with some challenging tasks, asking you to earn cookies via the help of friends and a general news post, and asking you to collect even more items to craft the new Yulefest Party Starter. The Party Starter requires five Gumdrops, six Sugar, eight Red Feathers and two Wood Planks to craft, and it takes just five seconds to finish. You can earn the Gumdrops by posting a request on your news feed. When you complete this first quest, you'll receive 1,750 coins and 35 XP.

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As you throw parties, friends that visit will earn you points in the Yulefest, and as you reach certain visit milestones, you'll be eligible for different prizes when the party ends. After 10 visits, but before 20 visits, you'll receive 20 Candy Canes and Shiny Baubles, three Tinsel and a Normal Yulefest Stocking. After 20 visits, you'll receive 45 Candy Canes and Shiny Baubles, six Tinsel, one String of Lights and a Giant Yulefest Stocking.

You'll have the base of the Arctic Automaton available to place for free when starting this quest. As for the Icy Rock, one of these can be purchased from the store for just 1,000 coins. Finally, the Candy Cane Lamp Posts are crafted using five Shiny Baubles, eight Candy Canes, five Copper Trinkets and three pieces of Coal. The Candy Canes and Shiny Baubles are earned by attending other Yulefest Parties and tending items in those active Kingdoms. When you finish this second quest, you'll receive a Mistletoe May Pole, 1,750 coins and 35 XP.

The Chickens must be fed in your own Kingdom, while the bottles of Ink can be crafted inside a Studio using three Berries and three Pails of Water each. As for the Arctic Automaton, you'll need to collect eight Yellow Feathers, four Bronze Bars, 10 Stone Blocks and 12 Ice Chunks to finish it off. The Bronze Bars are a crafting project in and of themselves, requiring three Silver Ore and four Copper Trinkets each. You can also craft the Stone Blocks yourself or just ask your friends to send them to you. When you complete this quest, you'll receive 1,750 coins and 35 XP.

The Caramel Popcorn can be earned by posting a general requests to your news feed, while the Ice Chunks can be earned by mining Ice Rocks in your Kingdom. Finally, the Giant Yulefest Wreath requires 20 Shiny Baubles, four Strings of Lights, five Berries and four Wood Planks to craft in the Party Pavilion. It takes just five seconds to create. When you finish this quest, you'll earn another 1,750 coins and 35 XP.

A Flurry of Festivities
• Run the Arctic Automaton 1 Time
• Craft 1 Iron Bar
• Craft a Moo-Dolph

The Arctic Automaton requires a "Jack's Frost Elixir" before it can be activated. This can be crafted using items like Ice Cream, Pails of Water and Snow Cones, and each time you activate the Arctic Automaton, you'll have a chance of receiving a variety of rewards, in addition to snow that can be laid on top of the grass in your kingdom. Some of these prizes include a Snowy House, Pine Tree, Willow Tree, pile of Snowballs or Pile of Snow, as seen below.

As for the Moo-Dolph itself, this is a Moose that's been dressed up as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and it requires 12 Shiny Baubles, 16 Candy Canes and more to craft. You'll receive a Snowman Guard decoration, 1,750 coins and 35 XP for completing this particular quest.

The Winter Sleigh requires items like 22 Candy Canes and one String of Lights to complete, while the Yule Log is much more separate (and time consuming). It requires eight Cocoa, three Flaxseed Oil and three Batter to create. It also takes 4.4 hours to cook, unless you boost the building's progress in some way. When you complete this quest, you'll receive yet another bundle of 1,750 coins and 35 XP.

The Mulled Ciders are earned by posting a general news item on your wall for all of your friends to see. Remember, if you play the game on Zynga.com, you can ask strangers as well as friends for help, speeding up your progress. As for the Leather Pants, these are crafted in the Studio using four Mink Oil and four Leather each (the Leather itself must be crafted as well). A single pair of Leather Pants takes 16 hours to craft. For completing this quest, you'll receive 1,750 coins and 35 XP.

By this point, two days of real time have probably passed in your game, so you can start another party in the same way as you started the first: by crafting a Starter in the Party Pavilion. While there, you can also check out the requirements for Kringle's Cottage, which requires 24 Shiny Baubles, four Strings of Lights, three Mortar and more to prepare. You'll receive - you guessed it - another 1,750 coins and 35 XP for completing this quest.

This quest is incredibly easy to complete, as you'll simply need to pull Kringle's Cottage (which you crafted in the last quest) out of your inventory and place it in your Kingdom. It can be taxed for 600 coins, and doing that will count for "visiting" Kringle's Cottage. When you complete this final quest in the series, you'll receive 1,750 coins, 35 XP and a Yulefest Clydesdale Horse that currently isn't available through any other method. You'll have eight weeks to finish this entire series of nine quests, so get crackin'.